[Image, courtesy New York Public Library]

The New York Public Library has released more than 180,000 ‘out-of-copyright’ items for public ‘sharing and reuse’, including high-resolution downloads.

‘No permission required, no hoops to jump through: just go forth and reuse!’ urges the New York Public Library on its website.

The collection includes Berenice Abbott’s documentation of 1930s New York for the Federal Art Fund and images by Dorothea Lange, Lewis Hine and Walker Evans.

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47d9-4f83-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.web.[Image, courtesy New York Public Library]

The Library says it has removed administration fees and made it easier to access the digitised photos.

‘The release of more than 180,000 digitised items represents both a simplification and an enhancement of digital access to a trove of unique and rare materials…’ said the New York Public Library in a statement.

‘All subsequently digitised public domain collections will be made available in the same way, joining a growing repository of open materials,’ it added.

The archive also includes maps and manuscripts.

The move was reported by the British photographic history website earlier this month.

For full details, visit digitalcollections.nypl.org.

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47d9-4f0d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.g.web3 nypl.digitalcollections.510d47d9-4fb9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.g.web

[Images, courtesy New York Public Library]